New Jersey economy came in 47th in nation for 2011

Governor Christie’s vision of a “New Jersey Comeback” — the huge economic rebound he says will make a 10 percent income tax cut affordable — was challenged Tuesday by a double dose of bad news.

The federal government released data indicating the state’s economy shrank by 0.5 percent in 2011, even as 43 states saw their economies grow last year, with the state ranked 47th in economic performance.

Also on Tuesday, a non-partisan state legislative budget analyst told New Jersey lawmakers in an email that a gap between earlier budget projections and actual tax collections may now be as wide as $1.4 billion through the end of June 2013, a development the governor’s office later downplayed. (Reitmeyer and Lynn, The Record)